Hood Theological Seminary history
1903 — The seminary began as a theological department of Livingstone College and in 1904 was elevated to school status.
1906 — The cornerstone was laid for a new building to be named Hood Theological Seminary after a renowned bishop of the A.M.E. Zion Church, Bishop James Walker Hood.
1965 — Another new seminary building was erected adjacent to the Livingstone College campus, and was named the W. J. Walls Center in honor of Bishop and Mrs. William Jacob Walls, whose generosity and leadership spearheaded the erection of the building.
1970s-80s — The seminary’s enrollment averaged 30 students.
1994 — Hood’s current president, Dr. Albert J. D. Aymer, began serving as dean of the seminary, with a focus on raising the academic quality of the graduate school and growing enrollment.
1998 — Hood Theological Seminary achieved full accreditation in the Association of Theological Schools in the U.S.A. and Canada (ATS).
1999 — Hood received approval by the University Senate of the United Methodist Church as a recognized seminary for training ministerial students for that denomination.
2001 — Hood obtained independence from Livingstone College and became a free-standing seminary and graduate school with its own board of trustees. Aymer was appointed and inaugurated as Hood’s first president
ATS granted the seminary permission to offer the advanced graduate degree program in continuing preparation for ministry — the doctor of ministry degree
2002 — The rapidly growing student body reaches more than 200 students, and Hood struggles to meet their educational needs on its small Thomas Street campus.
2003 — The seminary bought the former Days Inn Hotel, just off Interstate 85 east of Salisbury, and converted it into a new seminary campus
July 2004 — A service of dedication was held for the new property.
September 2005 — The seminary opened the fall semester of classes in the renovated facility on the campus where it is now located.
2006 — Hood welcomed 13 new students to the first class of its extension program in Alabama.
Spring 2010 — Hood Seminary celebrated the largest graduating class in its 106-year history, including the first official graduates from the Alabama extension campus.
Today — Hood Theological Seminary students are Protestant (of 16 different denominations) and Roman Catholic, black and white, male and female, and represent a diversity of ages and backgrounds.
Provided by Margaret Kluttz, Hood development officer